Long Essay Question (LEQ)

Overview

• 1 LEQ chosen from 3 options in 40 minutes
• Makes up 15% of your total exam score
• No documents provided - relies entirely on your knowledge
• Each option tests the same reasoning skill but in different time periods:
  • Option 1: 1200-1750
  • Option 2: 1450-1900
  • Option 3: 1750-2001

The LEQ is deceptively challenging. Unlike the DBQ where documents provide evidence and spark ideas, the LEQ tests whether you've internalized enough specific historical knowledge to craft a sophisticated argument from scratch. It's the section where deep understanding pays the biggest dividends.

Strategy Deep Dive

The LEQ rewards students who can quickly access specific historical knowledge and organize it into a coherent argument. Success comes from understanding both what the exam wants and how to deliver it efficiently.

The Power of the 5-Minute Plan

Your first 5 minutes determine your essay's success. This isn't casual brainstorming - it's systematic preparation that prevents mid-essay panic when you realize you're running out of evidence.

Step 1 (1 minute): Read all three prompts. Don't just pick the period you know best - pick the prompt you can answer best. Sometimes a challenging period offers an easier prompt.

Step 2 (2 minutes): Brainstorm specific evidence. Write down 5-7 concrete historical examples. If you can't generate at least 4 specific pieces of evidence, choose a different prompt. Specific means proper nouns, dates, and concrete developments - not vague concepts.

Step 3 (2 minutes): Organize your evidence into categories that will become body paragraphs. Identify your reasoning skill (comparison, causation, CCOT) and structure so. Sketch a basic thesis that reflects your organizational structure.

This planning investment pays off exponentially. Students who skip planning often write themselves into corners, realizing halfway through they lack evidence for their argument.

Reasoning Skill Mastery

Each LEQ tests one historical reasoning skill. Understanding how to structure arguments for each skill type is crucial.

Comparison Essays

Structure: Focus on 2-3 significant similarities or differences (or both) Key moves:

• Identify specific points of comparison
• Explain why similarities/differences matter
• Analyze causes of similarities/differences
• Avoid superficial comparisons

Example approach: Comparing Ottoman and Safavid empires, don't just note both were Islamic. Instead, analyze how both used religious legitimacy to consolidate power but applied it differently - Ottomans through pragmatic tolerance via the millet system, Safavids through enforced Shi'a conversion.

Causation Essays

Structure: Identify multiple causes or effects, analyze their relationships Key moves:

• Distinguish immediate from underlying causes
• Show how causes interacted
• Evaluate relative importance
• Address both intended and unintended effects

Example approach: For Industrial Revolution's causes, don't just list factors. Show how agricultural improvements created surplus labor, which combined with capital from global trade and Enlightenment emphasis on progress to create conditions for industrial takeoff.

Continuity and Change Over Time (CCOT) Essays

Structure: Identify what changed and what stayed the same, explain why Key moves:

• Establish a baseline at the period's start
• Identify specific changes with chronology
• Explain what remained constant and why
• Analyze why some things changed while others didn't

Example approach: For women's roles 1750-1900, show how industrialization changed women's work (from home production to factory labor) while patriarchal family structures largely continued, explaining how economic change occurred within persistent social frameworks.

Evidence Selection and Deployment

The difference between a 3 and a 6 often lies in evidence quality. Strong evidence is specific, relevant, and clearly connected to your argument.

Consider this progression:

• Weak: "Trade increased during this period."
• Better: "European maritime trade expanded to Asia."
• Best: "Portuguese establishment of trading posts in Goa (1510), Malacca (1511), and Macao (1557) created a network that channeled Asian spices to European markets, generating profits that funded further expansion."

The best evidence includes specific dates, places, people, and clear causal connections. It shows not just what happened but why it matters to your argument.

Building Complexity

The complexity point isn't a bonus - it's achievable through systematic thinking. Several paths exist:

1. Multiple perspectives: Show how different groups experienced developments differently
2. Multiple causes/effects: Analyze how factors interacted rather than listing separately
3. Both similarities and differences: In comparison essays, address both thoughtfully
4. Both change and continuity: In CCOT essays, give equal weight to both
5. Qualifications: Acknowledge exceptions while maintaining your argument
6. Connections: Link to other periods or regions to show broader patterns

Complexity shouldn't feel forced. If you're thinking sophisticatedly about history, complexity emerges naturally from your analysis.

Time Management Reality

Forty minutes disappears quickly when you're writing from scratch. Success requires disciplined pacing that balances thinking with sustained writing.

The 5-30-5 Formula

• First 5 minutes: Planning (as detailed above)
• Next 30 minutes: Writing (about 10 minutes per body paragraph)
• Final 5 minutes: Introduction, conclusion, and review

This formula keeps you moving while ensuring thoughtful argumentation. The danger is either over-planning (leaving insufficient writing time) or under-planning (writing yourself into corners).

Paragraph Pacing

Within each body paragraph's ~10 minutes:

• 2 minutes: Topic sentence and transition
• 6 minutes: Deploy 2-3 pieces of specific evidence with analysis
• 2 minutes: Connect back to thesis and add sophistication

This pace allows depth while maintaining momentum. If you're spending 15 minutes on one paragraph, you're likely over-writing or struggling with evidence.

Strategic Shortcuts Under Time Pressure

When time runs short, prioritize:

1. Thesis - must be clear and establish reasoning

2. Body paragraphs with specific evidence - core of your score

3. Analysis of reasoning skill - shows historical thinking

4. Brief contextualization - can be 2-3 sentences

5. Minimal conclusion - can be one sentence if necessary

Never sacrifice evidence and analysis for beautiful introductions or conclusions. Graders want historical thinking, not literary flourishes.

Thesis Development

Your thesis is your essay's foundation and roadmap. Strong theses do more than answer the prompt - they establish how you'll prove your answer.

The Three-Part Thesis

Effective theses typically contain:

1. Direct answer to the prompt
2. Preview of reasoning/categories
3. Hint at complexity or nuance

Example for a causation prompt about imperialism: "While European imperialism in the 19th century stemmed partly from industrial nations' need for raw materials and markets, ideological factors - including Social Darwinism, civilizing mission beliefs, and national rivalry - proved equally important in driving expansion, creating a mutually reinforcing cycle where economic and ideological motivations intensified each other."

This thesis answers the prompt (identifies causes), establishes categories (economic vs. ideological), and hints at complexity (mutually reinforcing cycle).

Common Thesis Pitfalls

• Restating the prompt without taking a position
• Being too vague to establish reasoning
• Making claims impossible to prove in 40 minutes
• Listing factors without showing relationships
• Contradicting yourself while attempting complexity

Contextualization Strategies

Contextualization shows you understand your topic didn't occur in isolation. Effective context explains why your topic emerged when and where it did.

The "Zoom Out" Technique

Start with your specific topic, then zoom out to relevant broader patterns:

• Temporal context: What preceded this development?
• Geographic context: What was happening elsewhere?
• Thematic context: What broader trends does this reflect?

For example, contextualizing the Haitian Revolution might reference: Enlightenment ideas spreading through Atlantic networks, the Seven Years' War's disruption of colonial control, and growing contradictions between revolutionary ideals and colonial slavery.

Efficient Contextualization

In 2-4 sentences, you can establish rich context: "By the late 18th century, Enlightenment ideals of natural rights and popular sovereignty had spread throughout the Atlantic world, challenging traditional justifications for monarchy and social hierarchy. These ideas took on radical new meaning in Haiti, where enslaved Africans comprised 90% of the population and generated enormous wealth for French planters through brutal sugar production."

This efficiently establishes intellectual, demographic, and economic context in two sentences.

Common LEQ Topics and Approaches

While prompts vary yearly, certain themes recur. Preparing flexible evidence for these themes ensures you're never caught empty-handed.

State Building and Governance

Common prompts: Comparing empires, analyzing consolidation methods, evaluating legitimacy strategies

Key evidence to know:

• Specific administrative systems (Ottoman devshirme, Chinese examination system)
• Legitimacy strategies (divine right, Mandate of Heaven, ceremonial display)
• Methods of controlling diversity (millet system, colonial indirect rule)
• Resistance and accommodation patterns

Economic Systems and Exchange

Common prompts: Analyzing trade impact, comparing labor systems, evaluating industrialization effects

Key evidence to know:

• Specific trade routes and goods (Trans-Saharan gold/salt, Indian Ocean spices)
• Labor systems with regional variations (encomienda, mita, indentured servitude)
• Industrial technologies and their effects (steam engine, railroad, telegraph)
• Economic theories and policies (mercantilism, laissez-faire, Import Substitution Industrialization)

Social Structures and Culture

Common prompts: Analyzing gender roles, comparing social hierarchies, evaluating cultural change

Key evidence to know:

• Specific social systems (caste, estates, class)
• Gender expectations with regional variations
• Cultural movements (Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romanticism)
• Religious developments and syncretism examples

Conflict and Cooperation

Common prompts: Analyzing war causes/effects, comparing revolutions, evaluating peace settlements

Key evidence to know:

• Specific conflicts with clear causes and consequences
• Revolutionary movements with ideological bases
• Peace treaties and their impacts
• Forms of resistance (armed rebellion, passive resistance, cultural preservation)

Evidence Banks by Period

Building flexible evidence banks ensures you're prepared for any prompt. Here are high-utility examples for each period:

1200-1750 Evidence Bank

Political: Mongol administrative practices, Ottoman devshirme system, Aztec tribute system, Divine Right monarchy, Tokugawa alternate attendance system

Economic: Indian Ocean merchant diaspora communities, Manila galleon trade, Potosí silver mine, Hanseatic League, Islamic banking practices

Social/Cultural: Neo-Confucianism spread, Sufi missionary networks, Sunni-Shia split impacts, Renaissance humanism, Protestant Reformation

1450-1900 Evidence Bank

Political: Meiji Restoration, Tanzimat reforms, Congress of Vienna, Monroe Doctrine, Berlin Conference

Economic: Atlantic triangular trade, Industrial Revolution technologies, Opium Wars, Railroad construction globally, Export economies in Latin America

Social/Cultural: Enlightenment thinkers, Abolition movements, Nationalist ideologies, Social Darwinism, Women's suffrage movements

1750-2001 Evidence Bank

Political: Decolonization movements, Cold War proxy conflicts, United Nations formation, Non-Aligned Movement, EU development

Economic: Great Depression, Import Substitution, Green Revolution, OPEC, Globalization of manufacturing

Social/Cultural: Human rights movements, Environmental movements, Religious fundamentalism, Popular culture spread, Digital revolution

Paragraph Development Techniques

Strong paragraphs balance specific evidence with clear analysis. They show not just what happened but why it matters to your argument.

The Evidence Sandwich Structure

Each piece of evidence needs three components:

1. Introduction connecting to your argument
2. Specific historical evidence
3. Analysis explaining significance

Example: "The Safavid Empire's enforcement of Shi'a Islam demonstrates how religious policy served political consolidation. Shah Ismail I's forced conversion of Sunni populations after 1501 not only distinguished his realm from the Ottoman Empire but created a unified identity that helped integrate diverse ethnic groups under Safavid rule. This religious uniformity provided legitimacy for centralized authority while making it harder for the Sunni Ottomans to claim religious leadership over Safavid territories."

Transition Mastery

Transitions between paragraphs should show logical progression:

• Chronological: "Following these initial reforms..."
• Causal: "These economic changes produced significant social consequences..."
• Comparative: "While X showed this pattern, Y developed differently..."
• Additive: "Beyond political factors, economic forces also..."

Strong transitions reveal the architecture of your argument, making your reasoning transparent to graders.

Final Thoughts

The LEQ challenges you to show genuine historical understanding without documentary support. It's where memorization fails but analytical thinking triumphs. Students who succeed understand that historical knowledge isn't just facts - it's understanding how and why developments occurred, how they connected, and what they meant for different people.

The beauty of the LEQ lies in its predictability. While you can't know the specific prompt, you can prepare flexible evidence and practice applying reasoning skills. Every past LEQ follows the same patterns, rewards the same skills, and tests the same historical thinking. Master these patterns, and you master 15% of your exam score.

Effective preparation means building evidence banks organized by theme, not just chronology. Practice applying the same evidence to different reasoning skills - how could the Columbian Exchange show comparison, causation, and CCOT? This flexibility ensures you're ready for any prompt construction.

The students who earn 6s aren't necessarily those who know the most facts. They're those who can quickly identify what type of thinking the prompt requires, access relevant specific evidence, and construct clear arguments that show sophisticated understanding. They treat the LEQ not as a memory test but as an opportunity to show they can think like historians.

Remember: in 40 minutes, you're constructing a historical argument from scratch. The exam doesn't expect perfection - it expects clear reasoning, specific evidence, and demonstrated understanding of historical complexity. Trust your preparation, choose your prompt wisely, and show the graders you can craft sophisticated historical arguments independently. That's what the LEQ ultimately tests - your ability to think and write like a historian without scaffolding.